


Ubuntu

by Basilico



Series: Let's meet again someday [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Anal Sex, Bickering Couple, Bonding, Canon Compliant, Dorks in Love, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I would watch Benn real close, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Non Penetrative Sex, Oral Sex, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Slice of Life, Smut, a sort of confession, petting, remember that asking for consent is sexy, variation of topics in each chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25597207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basilico/pseuds/Basilico
Summary: A few months after their last encounter, Shanks comes visit Buggy's brand new island for a couple days. The both of them will try to build an actual bond over their casual intercourse.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks & Benn Beckmann, Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Buggy
Series: Let's meet again someday [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1496558
Comments: 17
Kudos: 79





	1. Day one (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Shanks being a douche with jokes and small talk, but rather considerate with romance matters; Buggy being the drama queen that he is and the hard worker no one notices he is. Sugary mechanics, kissing, petting. Also a shocking reveal that will haunt us all for the rest of our lives.

Shanks left Buggy's cabin right after dawn, more due to Buggy's pressing invite than anything else. 

The Yonkou smiled fondly before setting off; he mentioned how lovely a second encounter would have been, and blabbed about scenarios, perhaps pulled in a couple of compliments.

Now Buggy didn't hear a word, for his head hurt terribly, and every frame of the night before felt extremely clear. 

They did share one last, quite awkward kiss to be fair; a kiss that the soon to be Shichibukai both deeply desired and repelled.

When the horizon was clear, and the sun had risen at the point that no star could be seen anymore; Buggy went knocking on one specific door: Alvida's.

Once her pissed face showed up, the man felt words come out fast, as in a quick sigh.  
"I screwed up".

\--

"It's getting closer". Alvida stated. Her arms crossed, her mouth curved in a pleased smirk.

Buggy stood at her side, on the beach of his brand new island. "Yes, I can see that". 

"It's the Red Force".

"Oh, you don't say!" the now Shichibukai cried out in a voice that came from pure stress: it'd been months since the last time he saw Shanks, and to be fair processing the emotions that came with the hookup was never, ever on the plate. Buggy had too many businesses to attend to nevertheless.

The woman kept talking in a teasing inflection: "At least one of us is getting laid tonight".

At that, the clown felt a shiver run through his spine. He would have enjoyed it for sure, of course physically. But the mere thought of a deeper investment somewhat terrified him.

"If you don't call dibs on Shanks _now_ , I'll take him". Alvida was plainly joking, although the man didn't seem to notice.

"Pff don't make me laugh! He would never go for you". That came out fast, so fast the clown was surprised.

"I'm the most beautiful gal on the planet, of course, he would go for me!". As she spoke Buggy's face changed, due to a dreadful doubt of his own. Why of course, Shanks would hit on anyone! And last time he just happened to be drunk enough to really go for it with Buggy. 

"But you're right, Buggy. He would never go for me if you're also there".

The clown nodded with a grumpy expression; in the way, one does when being both upset and kind of petty.  
"You know what? Take him, that douchebag is all yours".

She stayed quiet.

"No, don't say anything. I said it myself, remember? Screwed up. Not a good decision".

Even if the man wanted to sound certain and distant, it was quite the opposite. Alvida tried not to force anything, for she knew a single more reassuring word, would have made her Buggy's wingman for the whole night.

"Stop being a drama queen, man!" She started pacing ashore, "If you don't want him here, why to invite him in the first place?".

Because he was curious about how much of it felt real for Shanks. "Because I may have shared my success and the fact that I bought an island, with him? And then he asked me... DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY?".  
He split into pieces, gesturing and making faces.

"You want examples?" They stopped right in front of their mole, people were also coming along.  
"How about: I have to beat my ass every day? When I'm not at the workbench I'm on the phone? I look like a homeless person? Or, listen carefully: no?".

Buggy himself was about to start laughing when his only answer to all of that was pointing out the fact that Shanks too, usually dressed up rather poorly.

The ship was now dangerously close, and the only thing Buggy thought would help him calm down was, as always, to talk shit about Shanks in his mind. Make him small.

He was Buggy the fucking Clown for God's sake! He built an empire (almost) alone, in his own, chaotic, utterly flashy way. And fucking Shanks, (because that was it, just fucking, no feeling whatsoever toward that scumbag) was something he'd done for the thrill, and of course the orgasm. He could do it thousand times more just for the sake of it; up until that redhead would fall, for him? A huge part of Buggy believed that Shanks had never really felt anything more than a like towards him and that they would always be divided nevertheless.

ANYWAYS, that brat, never bragging about his role as a Yonkou, always doing the false buddy, downgrading himself as in an even shallower way to be condescending. 

Now the clown was of a remarkably expressive kind. In fact, as he kept on picturing the nastiest images of Shanks, one could have seen his face curl up in complete anger; tensing every muscle from neck to forehead.

As the redhead was to climb down on the mole, walking very steady on a wooden ramp; Buggy followed him with eyes wide open, then came back to his silent roast.

So, make the redhead fall for him, yes. He wanted some toxic as fuck relationship, he wanted Shanks at his feet begging, nay, craving for a touch! He wanted a real obsession so that giving no as an answer would feel better every time. Buggy would use Shanks as a stress relief, never really getting attached to him, just using him for fun. Or out of spite. Or both.

As the Yonkou started walking down the mole, Buggy set a fierce eye contact, then crossed his arms. 

What a fucker. No shit the clown had refused to kiss him back then, more than ten years before.  
At that, the man's face somehow unlocked, loosening in doubt, for he could not recall why exactly he had refused to give out a single kiss.

Yes the last time they had met it was a matter of pride... did Buggy kept on despising Shanks out of the blue for more than twenty years? Sure he was annoying, a rival, but hate? feeling repulsion towards his presence?

Could have it been jealousy? some kind of inferiority complex? NAH. 

Well, perhaps at the time, in his twenties he COULD have felt that way; but now? 

The Yonkou stopped a meter away from the blue-haired man, then pulled off a half-smirk, making Buggy's face look even looser; in the way, one looks when pretending to be pissed.

 _"yes of course! Toxic relationship my ass"_ he couldn't even keep a poker face in front of Shanks.

"Clown" Shanks greeted him.

"Redhead".

And at that moment, while looking at each other in the eye, both men smiled in the dorkiest way, and Buggy felt both unbelievably awkward and at peace. 

"You must be Iron Mace Alvida! It's a pleasure meeting you".

Alvida was well aware of Shanks being implicitly off-limits, but she felt utterly flattered nonetheless.

Couple minutes of small talk later, the party officially started.

The island was a complete building site, and temporary facilities were scattered all around it. It was really just about an enormous cantine, some wooden, busy rooms where the ~~goons~~ new crewmates could sleep, and of course private cabins for the good old Buggy's Pirate crew.

Buggy noticed immediately how all the Shanks' pirates looked rather shaken, even stiff in the very beginning; as if each one of them had been throughout a lot more any mortal could bear. 

They did loosen up eventually, to be precise, they did the very moment both food and booze were ready for everyone to take.

In a couple of hours everyone was laughing, people were making tours of both the island and the Red Force, and Mr 3 was doing tricks with wax to impress anyone who would listen to him.

That left our main couple all alone, sitting at a secluded table, chatting and laughing about the dumbest things. There were those moments of absolute silence in which Shanks seemed very conflicted and opened his mouth as to say something without making a sound. That of course hinted at some rather serious matter the older man wanted to discuss.

"Shanks" but sincerely Buggy wanted to go first.  
"I see you're tense. Listen, let's not talk about our" he lowered his voice, "hookup. Not here at least, just have fun man". It took all the clown's nerve to say those words in a relaxed tone. 

A wide, quite surprised smile formed on the Yonkou's face. He cocked his head to the side and spoke up without really being able to stop grinning.  
"What? I can't believe you remember. It feels all blurred out to me!".

At that, he clown felt his stomach drop; again it was rather easy to read his emotions by just looking at his thunderstruck expression.

Shanks grabbed a pint of beer, then drew it close to his mouth.  
"Why don't you just tell me _exactly_ what happened?".

Buggy's face gradually grew reddish, portraying an incoming and growing anger. He stomped a fist on the table and definitively stopped moderating his voice.  
"You fucker!". No one really turned towards them, for Buggy's cries were quite common around there.  
Shanks did blink at that nonetheless.

One could have heard a group of people praising the clown in one voice: "Captain Buggy's so cool he can even scream in a Yonkou's face!" just like it sometimes happens in anime.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I-" The outburst stopped moments later its very beginning, leaving Buggy with a tricky explanation ahead.  
"What do you want me to tell you? We..."

"Yes?" Shanks was actually really amused by the fact that Buggy hadn't noticed his sarcastic inflection.

"We have had intercourse, that is clear I think". The red-haired one had never seen his friend choose words so carefully. Nevertheless, he noticed how his tone was getting lower as if disappointed somehow.

The clown was indeed feeling rather down, regretting of getting his hopes ever so slightly high, even if terribly deep down inside.  
It was nothing for that asshole? Wonderful! Neither Buggy felt anything whatsoever.

"And that is all I remember, bitch". The younger man popped the b, and at that moment Shanks' calm smile cracked into a loud laughter.  
Said laugh was careless and rather lovely to listen to; although Buggy had never been a fan, and now more than ever he felt like wringing the Yonkou's neck.

As grief built up inside Buggy, Shanks managed to gibber a couple words: "Sorry but I couldn't resist".

In half a second, Buggy snapped; split into pieces and grabbed the other man by the collar, then drew him very close as if talking in his face could make words a good deal more powerful.  
But of all the insults the Clown wanted to spout in Shanks' face, the only phrase that came out was a gritted, almost whispered: "You scumbag drive me crazy".

Shanks' eyes flickered. "That's... almost sweet considering it's you" he looked at Buggy's painted mouth, "can you take it as a test to prove whether you cared or not?"

The clown tightened his grip, then shut his mouth with such grit his lips trembled for a few seconds. He breathed in and tried to calm down.  
"Does it by any chance seem like I don't care?".

They remained in silence, whoever really knew those two also remained quite indifferent; Buggy's goons could be heard discussing keenly the nature of their relationship (praising their boss nonetheless).

Then the Yonkou drew closer, his right arm centimetres away from Buggy's waist.  
"Seems like you care as much as I do... may I?".

A thousand thoughts crossed Buggy's mind; first of all the long lost memory of the very kiss he ha refused years before, immediately followed by the acknowledgement of them being out in the open.

"Nope". The clown covered Shank's mouth with his hand by instinct. As the Yonkou's eyes widened, a craving tension fell upon the two of them.

Eventually Buggy precised his statement under his teeth, for he felt helpless in front of that look.  
"No- not here dummy".

Shanks glare softened, and the Shichibukai could feel a tender kiss against his gloved palm.  
As soon as he drew his hands away, Buggy regretted it.

"From fucker to dummy in ten minutes. I take it as a success".

"Oh just shut it". the younger one left the grip and stood still on the grass, arms on his own waists  
"You wanna... have a tour?". 

Shanks got up too. "Lead the way".

It was pretty clear that Buggy was proud of his work there: the more he walked around pointing things, the more he smiled, and the more he smiled, the more Shanks stared in a mixture of surprise and awe. He didn't so much talk as nod and hum in approval.

The clown wanted to avoid eye contact and act cool at the same time and boosted his own confidence saying things like: "This one building took me less than two days to design", or:"Those imbeciles screwed up with caves once and almost blew up the cooking facility, but I saved the day!", or even:"I was told to be very careful, due to the soil's frailty in specific clogs. It took me a lot of tries, but I did manage to overcome the problem".

The main building was little more than a skeleton, except for this enormous ramp of stairs that led on another huge platform. There, was a white painted balcony overlooking the principal atrium. The ceiling was utterly tall, and huge door frames were scattered along several levels of corridors. Sure most of the walls were missing, and the pavement on the ground floor was barely evened concrete; but living for years in the Red Force, Shanks' idea of huge constructions was rather deformed.

"Buggy this is incredible, who's the architect?" he kept looking around, his hand laying on the edge of the balcony.

The younger man smirked, licked both his thumb and index finger and drew back on his head a rebel lock. He felt flattered: having his best rival/perhaps romantic interest to praise him that way sure felt good. "I'm the architect" he didn't even try to hide his pride.

"How about the designer?".

"Well, I am". One could have seen a jolly aura float around the clown.

At that, the Yonkou turned around in amazement. "You projected all of this?".

"Yep". Buggy started pacing theatrically slow towards the other man, then he stopped right under his nose.

Shanks smiled. "But how?".

The clown rose his eyebrows and pulled off a wonderfully condescending smile. "Do you really think I slept during the past few months?". 

He kept going:" I made every single blueprint, divided the spaces and mapped both hydraulic and power lines".

Shanks seemed almost blocked in that dumb grin of his.

"Yes you can praise me as much as you want, I don't mind-".

"I can't believe everyone thinks of you as some incompetent swindler!".

At that, Buggy remained petrified, as if every spill of his good mood had instantly dried out

The red-haired one didn't seem to notice. "Of course you are wonderfully good at fraud, but this... does anyone know how good you are?".

It had been a long time since Buggy blushed. Even more time had passed since he did so both out of anger and embarrassment.

"Who says I'm a fraud?" That came out as a guttural snarl.

The red haired one adjusted his black cape around his neck and tried to weight his own words. "I happened to meet Miwhawk-".

"That bastard". Buggy detached his whole body, crossed both arms and legs as he started floating, slowly spinning on himself. He begun mumbling about the poor consideration every other Shichibukai had of him; complained about his current situation and ended up boosting up his own self-esteem seconds after.

As he considered being in Buggy's shoes, Shanks stared in silence; for he felt tired and stressed at the mere idea of it.  
"Buggy" the Yonkou drew his hand above the other one's shoulder, but stopped for some reason the clown couldn't really grasp. 

Buggy stopped moving due to that strange gesture. His eyes moved down at his left where Shanks' palm was hanging.  
"You can touch me, y'know?".

The red haired man seemed slightly taken aback. An awkward pat on Buggy's shoulder came seconds after.

"What is wrong with you?" Buggy's words came out fast, hiding a certain concern under his squirming voice. 

"I wasn't really joking- I mean yes I was joking but" Shanks let out a long sigh; his eyes half closed. "It does feel a little blurry to me, our last time I mean; and I don't know how...".

There was a heavy moment of silence. The Yonkou had a lump in his throat due to some puerile jitters: a touch of apprehension in the back of his mind kept on telling him that he had lost some pieces, very important ones that might prove Buggy's reluctance towards their relationship.

On the other hand, the clown was torn between feeling lost and being the most relieved he'd ever been. It sure left a bitter taste in his mouth; but that being said, not considering their drunk hookup as an official and serious intercourse sure destroyed the huge pressure on his stomach.

Nevertheless, both had confirmed to care about each other, and that couldn't mean nothing, could it? It was always Shanks they were talking about.

So, as some people do when nervous, Buggy burst out laughing, tilting back his head and part of his torso. It was a cold, loud and sharp laughter.

The second he stopped laughing, Buggy pulled off a sly smirk and wrapped his arms around Shanks' neck. In that moment, the Shichibukai finally understood how much he loved feeling Shanks' surprised, no, shocked glare on his skin.

"So you don't really remember, huh?" The clown was almost whispering "and what is your concern?". As he got real close, Buggy realized how poorly he cared, and how much he wanted them both to stop talking and start acting. 

"No, that's not-" ; as he pondered his words, Shanks looked down on Buggy's lips. "You strongly avoided to kiss me last time, that I do remember very clearly".

Buggy's grasp loosened, and he pulled away an inch so that they could look each other in the eye properly.  
"I did, but-".

"Please" The red-haired man tightened the already firm grip he had on Buggy's shoulder; his glare so serious it was actually scary. "You can't even imagine how deeply I want this, but Buggy" Shanks' palm slid, then cupped the other man's jawline; his index tracing circles behind the clown's ear.

The Yonkou kept talking: "If you don't feel comfortable, if you don't want to be touched, if you don't want me to kiss you; then let's not. I really... I don't mind".

The clown stared, his mouth curved in some cryptic way. As his left hand caressed the back of Shanks' head, the other one soundly clutched the Yonkou's whole face and pulled in him for a kiss. 

Shanks let out a surprised moan, then shut his eyes. He instinctively tried to back off, but could not; for Buggy's mouth followed every movement of his.

The moment the redhead tangled his fingers in those messy locks on the back of Buggy's scalp; the younger man tilted his head and felt a burst of heat run throughout his body. Breaking the kiss was a rather suffered decision.

"It seems to me like you _would_ mind a lot".  
The Shichibukai kept caressing Shanks' unshaven, scratchy cheek; said redhead had such dreamy eyes, and his mouth felt oh so silky that Buggy had an hard time restraining himself. 

"Then why?" That came out soar.

Buggy realized that he didn't feel like answering the question; it would have been painful and hard to explain.  
"It's not important, not now".

Shanks nodded in silence, got very close to the other man's lips and held him tight. The second time they kissed it all was somewhat stronger: Buggy's gloved palm slid under the Yonkou's cape on his back, grasping at the fabric of his white shirt.

They stopped caring about the world around them and started pacing back and forth.  
Buggy stumbled when Shanks' tongue slid inside his mouth. He then let out a wet moan, and could clearly feel that bastard smiling against his lips.

At that, the clown answered with a tender bite on Shanks' lower lip, with the only result of the Yonkou tilting his head, grabbing Buggy by his waist and boosting him up.

The clown decided that he quite liked the idea, and started floating so that Shanks wouldn't have to bear his whole weight. They both started to move their entire body, trying to find a friction, a way to increase even more the suffocating heat between them.

Buggy's hands started moving fast: he was holding tight at Shanks' back nonetheless, then he pulled him in even deeper by grasping at his jaw and part of his neck. Noticing how Shanks' pulse was going crazy, Buggy fastened his movements.

The room was soon filled with muffled moans and loud, occasional exhales.

And in that moment, with Shanks' hand sliding under the other one's t-shirt; Buggy holding tight at the Yonkou's red locks; a pulsing heat tracing shivers over his body, the Shichibukai suddenly opened his eyes and pulled away.

"Stop, stop it Redhead!".

Shanks first whined at the loss, but then seemed preoccupied, with his shallow breath and lipstick marked mouth.  
"What's wrong?".

Buggy tried to catch his breath, and once he noticed how that tingling sensation still resonated throughout him, he spoke in a surprised sigh.  
"I think I almost... came".

The Yonkou widened both eyes, as an half smirk formed on his face "Did you now?".

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buggy eventually backed off, for he really didn't want to cum there, in his pants.

Shanks too, seemed quite reddish in the face. "Do you want me to help you with that?".

There was a moment of silence in which Buggy both wanted to laugh and make out once more.

"I suppose we could move to my room", he managed to say in the end.

-

They didn't bother looking around the room; Shanks went immediately sitting on Buggy's bed, as the other man untangled his now loose high ponytail.

"Lose the cape" he talked very fast, then tried to tie again his air, brushing it with his fingers.

"Why do you even bother, it's not like you won't untangle it-" words died in the Yonkou's throat the moment he saw Buggy's hidden, blonde roots.

"What?" Buggy was actually clueless, perhaps he had forgotten about his hair colour, or didn't think of it as an important matter.

Shanks decided to stay quiet: it had been years since last time he'd seen the clown dye his hair; thinking about it, he'd never seen him without any blue dye on. The Yonkou couldn't recall if that was a tradition of Buggy's island, or just a way for him to stand out and look flashy. Nevertheless, seeing those blond locks moved, inside of Shanks, something around the lines of nostalgia and warmth.

"Your hair, it looks lovely" he whispered; his eyes a pool of unintentional lust.

"Just lose the cape, Shanks".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't really know why, but I'm rather happy about this one chapter.
> 
> Also, I watched Stampede just for Buggy's hair. Characters were crying, Boa Hancock was kicking asses for good; but I only cared about Buggy, whose dialogues were about the lines of "Fuck it, I'm outta here". Plus I don't think it's canon, but I can totally see Buggy dyeing his hair in order to look even flashier and being noticed.
> 
> I had to split the chapter because it was getting real long. Don't worry though, it's on its way!
> 
> Thank you for all the support!!!!


	2. Day one (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: smut, non penetrative sex, kid of kinky, cuddling, chatting, fluff, comfort, lots of teasing, dirty talk, again consent is important, this is almost completely nsfw content y'all

"Just lose the cape", As if he wanted to encourage Shanks even further, Buggy too stripped of both his white t-shirt and gloves.

Shanks would have very much liked to stay put and enjoy the view, but soon realized that the night was still young, and that this time the clown wasn't going anywhere.

There was no need for the Shichibukai to say:" The shirt too", for the Yonkou undressed quickly, with no hesitation.

They stared at each other for infinite seconds; Buggy laying with his back against a counter, Shanks sitting on a tidy, wonderfully made bed. It may have been for the dark, or the alcohol; but last time both had cared so little about one another's body, that now they just couldn't stop looking at each other with such craving glares. 

Now the image that Shanks had of Buggy was more of a typo than anything precise. For instance, he did remember very clearly his mate's somatic traits; but thinking about his body, all he could do was picture a random bony teenager. That's why swapping that blurry memory with Buggy's actual figure wasn't much of a big deal for the redhead. 

On the other hand Buggy found himself to be speechless: in the dark it's rather easy to define a body with a simple adjective, as in muscled, skinny, chubby; but it takes just a little conscience to start noticing important, singular details that remain imprinted in one's memory.  
At a second glance, the Yonkou's figure appeared to be not so much fit as slightly uneven. As if none of his muscles were the result of a daily training, but of pretty heavy, compulsory manual labour instead.

Shanks had most probably stopped training. Considering his young age obsession with sparring, that must have been a terribly hard decision; nevertheless, the clown understood his motivations.  
The stomp of Shanks' left arm exhibited a scar at the very least huge, quite reddish, and yet lighter compared to the man's olive complexion. It seemed like the stitches had re-opened a couple times, and it made the rest of the arm and the shoulder's muscle overall swollen, deformed in a way that seemed terribly wrong and painful.  
Now Buggy didn't mind at all, but he wasn't sure Shanks felt the same way.

"Does it hurt?". The clown pointed at the slaughtered arm with a chin movement.

The Yonkou immediately twisted his head, then seemed to think intensively about it.

Again, they looked each other in the eye.  
"Yes, terribly. For instance, when I breath too deeply I feel this sharp pain. Oh, and when I piss-".

Buggy, feeling almost dumb for worrying in the first place, threw himself forward; body detached from his feet, up until he was centimetres away from the other man's face. Let's say that if he had stopped floating right away, he would have ended up sitting in Shanks' lap.

"Really funny". The clown's hands firmly slid on the redhead's shoulders, massaging in a way said Yonkou found rather relaxing.

"That's the last time I'll ever be concerned about your well-being". 

"Oh yes?" Shanks half-closed his eyes the moment Buggy's thumb started tracing circles on his collarbone.  
The Shichibukai seemed so caught up in the act, and it was actually an unbearable sight for Shanks.

The redhead softly, and yet quickly smacked Buggy's mouth corner; then it was a matter of seconds for the clown to stop caring about the collarbone, and start kissing back.

When Shanks let himself fall on his back, the other man followed; their bodies pressed on one another creating a tender friction.

"Mh" the red-haired one broke the kiss, and sighed when Buggy started leaving kisses on his jaw, then down on his neck.

"Oi" said man called out in a low, raspy voice. The clown stood on his arms, feeling almost pissed at the interruption; he waited for Shanks to talk nevertheless.

"You're not kickin' me out tomorrow morning, are you?". 

The clown almost froze; for he could clearly see, deep down in Shanks' black, lusty eyes, a flicker of concern. Of course the Shichibukai had already considered (and quite liked) the idea of Shanks sticking around for a bit more than one night; but that being said, he would have to work almost all day.

"You wanna stay?" he pretended to think about it, "fine, how much?". His tone was kind of sbrigative.

"How about..." the redhead drew his hand up on Buggy's face; his thumb stoke the clown's left cheek, "A couple weeks?".

At that, the younger one almost choked, as both his hands grasped firmly at Shanks' waists.  
"Say that again?".

Shanks chuckled. "My my, is it to much or not enough?" his eyes flickered down of Buggy's firm grip.  
The Yonkou was to kiss the other man, but couldn't, for Buggy backed off.

"No, you- you can but" and then, the clown pulled off a wonderfully mischievous smile."You see Shanks, everything's possible with the right amount of cash".

"What?".

The more Buggy thought about it, the more it felt like a perfect idea.  
"It'd be just seventy-thousand Berry per day, of course also per head".

Shanks smiled, "Can I pay in kind?", he casually said, before leaving a trail of kisses on Buggy's jawline.

At that, the younger one couldn't help but chuckle, and jerk his shoulder slightly up. He could feel a wide grin against his skin.  
"A bit ticklish, aren't you?"

"No I'm not!" .

The exact second the Yonkou got a bit harsh on his jugular, the clown tried to suppress a moan in a giggle.  
They both shut up.

As Buggy drew his hands on Shanks' torso, caressing his tense muscles in the most careful way possible; Shanks started to get rougher. He pushed himself slightly up, so that torturing the other man's neck could be both easier and more intense.

The clown let out a quiet moan the moment Shanks nibbled at a very soft spot on his neck.  
"Say, Buggy" a whisper that felt more like a low, rumbling buzz reaching for Buggy's ear. "How do you feel about hickeys?".

A burst of heat run throughout the Shichibukai's body; he didn't really feel like answering at the moment. His hands slid up, cupping Shanks' face firmly.  
"Whatever". That came out as a terribly needy sigh. Buggy moved fast, trying to lock the other man into another, exactly as needy kiss; but their foreheads bumped instead.

"But Buggy" the Yonkou's tone was annoyingly whiny, as though he was mocking; "I can't really do anything if you're not _explicitly_ ok with it".

There was this thick tension floating in the air; Shanks' watery, lusty eyes outweighed his playful attitude. Buggy felt, no, knew that he could take the lead without a single complain from the redhead; that a single bump on the shoulder would send Shanks back down on the mattress. 

In a sigh, the clown went leaving a trail of kisses down on Shanks' torso, keeping an eye contact he knew was terribly effective according to the erection that pressed against his stomach.

"You truly are the lazy type", Buggy gripped firmly, almost theatrically at Shanks' hips, as both his thumbs drew down, under the Yonkou's pants and underwear, making circular movements.

When the clown's mouth slid down on the other man's belly, said redhead started breathing hard, his chest rhythmically jerking faster.  
At that, Buggy realized that of course, he could just go ahead and make his way through Shanks' pants; but a little more teasing would be fun.

"You wanna see what I'm gonna do to you?" Buggy grinned, tilting his head to the side.

Shanks couldn't control a teasing smirk. "Always so showy, aren't ya?".

"Oh screw you Shanks" the Shichibukai liked how that name rolled on his tongue.

The clown kept eye-contact, rubbing his body up, so that his mouth could reach the redhead's left nipple. Buggy gave a last, mischievous smirk; then kissed very tenderly the tip of that nipple. He then started licking the sensitive surface all around, tilting his head, moving in a soft, hypnotic way, and letting out quiet moans. 

Shanks just couldn't stay put at that sight. Watching that painted mouth, so soft, wrapped around his swollen nipple; made him grow harder, and demanding for a deeper friction.  
He loved to see Buggy's head move along his jerking chest. 

The younger man let the reddish, sensitive nipple with a loud pop; then started nibbling at the skin just underneath it: he wanted to leave a mark very few could see.

It didn't so much as tickle Shanks, but the Yonkou did grasp at Buggy's scalp nonetheless.

"Any other suggestion, _Redhead_?" after speaking, the clown went on nibbling, rubbing his whole body further; up until he started sucking that nipple, bobbing his head back and forth.

The Yonkou couldn't handle any of it a second longer. He went sitting, causing Buggy to bounce back on his lap; but no moan could come out of any of their mouths; for Shanks took the other one by the chin and dragged him in a ravish, open-mouthed kiss.  
Then there were pants and dull gulps, and teeth crashing, and this hunger for one another, and then it stopped. 

As Buggy broke the kiss, his fast hands lowered both Shanks' pants and underwear; revealing his throbbing cock.  
"Weren't you the one that almost climaxed over a kiss?". The fact that the redhead was able to tease in his situation was almost amusing to Buggy.

The clown kissed him hard another time. "I do what I want, ok asshole?".  
Without leaving the other any time to answer, Buggy got up just to knee down on the pavement. He hesitated a second, for it casually occurred to him (as if he had long forgotten) that Shanks' penis was way more sensitive than his nipple, and thus, that he should be a good deal more careful.

Buggy started stroking tenderly with his right hand, and frankly wasn't expecting the deep, whiny sigh that came out of the Yonkou's mouth, nor the effect that noise had on his own body. He was already tight over any possible consideration, but now he felt the craving need of a friction. That was the only motivation he'd kept his trousers on.

The moment the redhead's leathery palm caressed Buggy's cheek, said man kissed the tip of Shanks' warm erection. He kissed it once, twice, thrice; then glimpsed back up at the man's eyes, just to find them half closed and terribly demanding. Oh was he holding back!

But sincerely, Buggy didn't want him to.

The clown's kisses became more like small, sucking movements all around the Yonkou's tip. He then traced vein down until the cock's base, licking as broadly as he could.  
Buggy wasn't sure if Shanks' grip was tightening or loosening; perhaps both form moment to moment.

While the younger one was fond of all the wet noises that kept coming out of his own mouth; as he fastened his movements, sucking Shanks' balls and jerking him off; the pleading, gibberish moans that came from the red-haired one sounded both far, and close enough for Buggy to thrust his hips back and forth.

As much as the clown loved to listen to that cacophony of whines; he knew his body had only so much tolerance, and again, he didn't want to cum in his pants.  
So Buggy wrapped his lips and tongue around that throbbing erection. At first he was slow, slow and steady. He considered closing his eyes, but soon realized that Shanks staring right back at him was both funnier and way more arousing.  
As his left hand kept on massaging the redhead's scrotum; the clown detached his left hand, just to grab a couple of paper tissues.

Shanks didn't seem to notice that, just like he probably didn't sense his hips moving ever so slightly forward; accompanying Buggy's mouth. 

The Shichibukai kept on sucking, taking a bit more every thrust. 

The moment Shanks gripped stronger on Buggy's scalp, and moaned in a fairly high tone; the clown backed off. Then it was just about a couple of strong strokes before the Yonkou climaxed in a gibbered nonsense that sounded a lot like Buggy's name.

The clown used the paper tissue so that Shanks' cum wouldn't make a mess. Even with the impelling desire of stripping and getting over that painful arousal, Buggy managed to get up and dump the dirty tissue in a small trashcan.

Then the man clicked his tongue a couple times, feeling an unpleasant aftertaste.  
"I'll wash my mouth, wait a secon-" the clown couldn't even finish the phrase, due to Shanks reaching for his forearm.

"Are you ok? did I hurt you?" he said.

The sorrow in his voice was enough for Buggy to blink in surprise.  
"N-no, no! I just figured you wouldn't want to taste your dick every time we kiss". As he spoke, the younger man realized two things: number one, he was being more considerate than he'd ever been; number two, he felt strange saying things like "every time we kiss".

Both the Yonkou's glare and grip loosened for a brief second.

"That is really no problem" Shanks said just before pulling Buggy back in.

"You're gross". The other man smiled back.

The red haired one pressed his mouth against Buggy's ear, and whispered before leaving a tender bite:"Guilty".

"Now let's think about you". As he spoke, Shanks unbuttoned the clown's pants, then gently held his painfully hard erection.  
After a terribly deep sigh of reveal, Buggy closed his eyes and tilted his head ever so slightly down.

"Say, where do you keep condoms?"

Buggy promptly opened his eyes, for he just remembered. "I- don't have any". 

The Yonkou didn't seem particularly concerned, as he kept on jerking off the other man.  
"How about lubricant?".

A couple seconds later, both men were sitting on Buggy's now not so wonderfully made and tidy bed; an almost empty bottle of lube between them.

"None of us is bottoming with this amount of shit, and I am not spitting on anything" the clown stated, finally naked an yet reluctant.

"Agreed".

There was a moment of silence, in which the redhead shortened the gap between them, grabbing the bottle on his way. He went sitting right in front of Buggy, spreading his legs and smiling very fondly.

The younger man felt exposed all out of the blue; then crossed his arms, as if trying to mildly put on a screen. 

"A little help?" Shanks' words were like a piercing spear. The man was holding the bottle from the bottom, expecting the other one to take it.

Buggy did so in a terribly diffident movement, then waited. His eyes wide, his muscles tense. Something in a far corner of his mind kept on rumbling about how that was no one but Shanks and that even if having fun and have a crazy night was fine, what they were doing was not a thoughtless hookup anymore. 

The Yonkou waited a couple seconds for the other to pour some lube onto his hand; managing to do it on his own, for the clown kept on dazing off.

As Shanks' cold hand smoothly slid onto Buggy's erection, the younger man jolted. He'd been on the edge for what felt like hours (and wasn't indeed much less than one), and as much as it could have been thrilling and quite arousing; he was tired of it.  
Looking each other in the eye, Buggy felt as if Shanks could read whatever thought was crossing his mind. Seconds after, the he realized that randomly assuming that the other man could use telephaty was pure nonsense.

Nonetheless, he felt like an open book, and didn't like it in the slightest. What if-

"You're so tense..." Shanks said in a low voice, as he rubbed his thumb onto Buggy's tip; making him pant.

The red haired man looked the other up and down. As heat rushed up inside of him, the Shichibukai tried to push all of that stress away, shutting his eyes and letting out a long sigh. His body started to loosen up; moving along the steady stroking of Shanks' strong hand. He felt a tingling sensation down in his guts when the redhead stimulated his perineum with concentric movements.

Buggy moaned softly, tilting his head every now and then as if he was trying to adjust to the insane tease that the redhead was causing; but didn't dare to open his eyes: if he was about to become a total mess, the last thing he wanted was to see Shanks' amused smirk.

Then a loud moan popped out of him, due to Shanks both fastening his movements and roughly pressing his mouth against Buggy's neck.  
Those didn't feel so much kisses as piercing bites. 

Shanks' sharply exhaling from his nostrils was the only sound the younger man was hearing; the friction between their bodies became so intense for Buggy to feel overwhelmed. He was indeed automatically trying to crouch; his orgasm building up faster every second.

"Fucking... ugh"

Then a kiss caught him in the middle of a strange moan that sounded a bit (just a tiny bit) like Shanks' name. The charge was perhaps too much, for the clown bumped his head on the wall; as much as the idea of being pinned to wall was a damn good fantasy, he groaned and opened wide both eyes.

Buggy stopped breathing for an infinite moment, in front of him Shanks was panting; his eyes lost in desire and his mouth swollen. At that exact moment the clown realized that he'd stopped to touch the other man, and that he now felt the impending need to do so.

But Shanks gave out a whisper:"Please relax. It's just me, Buggy"; he spelled that name ever so sweetly, and then again went kissing the younger man's neck.

The clown shut down his mind, as his hand grasped very firmly at Shanks' hair, and his chest jerked faster.  
Then he felt the redhead's soft mouth on his collarbone, his sternum, his lower abdomen.

Before Buggy could even notice, he was dragged down, back on the bed, groaning at the abrupt movement. He stood on his elbows, his ponytail swinging up and falling on his own shoulder.  
"What the fuck Redhe-"  
He couldn't continue due to the sight of Shanks: his tongue sticking ever so slightly out and being terribly near to the man's cock base.

The older man gave out a sly smirk, just before taking in Buggy's tip, rolling it in his mouth and rubbing it against the skin of his cheek.  
Wet moans were coming out of the redhead's mouth, as his head bobbed up and down.

Seconds later, Buggy contracted every muscle and his climax reached him fast, faster than he'd expected.  
He pulled away Shanks' hair just in time; cumming in a low moan and eyes shut.

When Buggy opened up again his lids, the other man was right above him; a drop of pre-cum on his chin.

The younger man caressed very messily Shanks' hair. "Sorry-"

"Don't be". The red haired man sat next to the other one, staring with dreamy eyes as Buggy got up and headed towards a counter.

There was a sound of glasses clanging, then the clown opened a bottle, and started pouring some brownish liquid into said cups.

"Redhead, I can offer you alcohol, booze, liquor and hard stuff" he turned around in a twirl, holding both glasses.  
"Which one would you rather?".

"Yes". Shanks pulled off an half smirk, quickly checking out the other one; simply enjoying his figure. He then reached out for one of the glasses, and laid back against the wall.

Buggy went sitting right at his side, letting out a deep sigh as the other man tasted the liquor.  
The clown himself had never tried the stuff; but found it rather smooth: warm liquid sliding down his throat.

"You are truly spoiling me".

The clown grinned, looking down at his glass "Oh you're so cheap, it's really not that hard".

"So you _will_ keep spoiling me" the man said so getting very close to Buggy's face, nibbling his ear.

"Don't push your luck, Yonkou".

The younger man took a sip, as he moved along with Shanks. The moment said redhead hid his face in the curve of Buggy's neck, the latter untangled his own hair: a bluish fall of soft locks covered the older man, making him freeze. After a couple seconds he backed off, his eyes lost in awe.  
They shared a chaste kiss, then came back drinking, shoulder to shoulder.

The silence was comforting for both of them. Nonetheless Shanks spoke up:"Should we try and see what we like?"

"It's really intimate, don't you think?".

That came out of Buggy's mouth automatically; as if it was a non processed thought that just needed to be said.

"I know, it feels almost too soon right?". The clown promptly twisted his head, eyes wide staring right at the other man. He felt silly for believing to be the only one questioning their decisions. He wanted to speak very badly, but couldn't find the words.

After a small sip, Shanks continued: "And it's clear we wouldn't enjoy any of that shit we used to call sex back in the days... or would you?"

"You mean the awkward positions and our poor moves?"

"precisely"

"No, I would not".

The Yonkou took a last, long sip without a blink; then stretched out his arm up until he could place the empty glass on Buggy's nightstand.  
"Then we'll start figuring it out. Tonight".

His tone was so confident that the clown felt the impelling urge to make him shut the hell up.  
A second after, Buggy too chugged his liquor, and was about to start coughing due to the burning taste down in his throat. That made Shanks grin in such a condescending expression to make the younger one flush. He could tell the redhead was on the edge of a smug laughter; but sincerely didn't want to hear it. 

He stomped his glass on the nightstand and grabbed the Yonkou by the chin, keeping him close.  
"Oh I'll find every single soft spot of yours until you'll scream my name".

Shanks playfully leaned in, his lids half-closed, his mouth still curved in a smile. "please do"

However, that didn't last long. The red haired one leaned in another time, moving faster, sucking Buggy's lower lip and holding the back of his head.

The moment Buggy opened his mouth trying to take over the kiss, Shanks pulled away, then talked under his breath: "Let's see how kinky this Shichibukai can get".  
He slid down, kissing the clown's jawline, feeling his short beard brushing against his skin.

"You're the kinky bastard here" was everything Buggy managed to say.  
He then heard a deep sigh coming from the other man, who was nibbling at the clown's neck, completely lost in his locks.

"We had so little time to catch up soberly that I forgot to point out how much I like your hair".

"Mh" Buggy mumbled in a surprised way; wrapped his arms around Shanks' torso and sighed deeply.

"It's long and silky, and the way it falls on your shoulders is so hot"

The clown giggled. "See? that's a fetish right there, Redhead".

"Oh yeah?" The older man looked up at the Sichibukai. "What are you gonna do about it?" As puerile as that tease could be, it did have a certain effect on Buggy.

Said man curved his lips in a lopsided smile, as his hands slid down on Shanks' waists.  
There was a moment of silence, in which the younger man rehearsed in his mind every single nasty move and dirty talk he could use to make the other man lose every single peck of dignity, as the Yonkou simply stared, waiting eagerly for a sudden twist.

In the end Buggy talked in a low tone; a smug smirk on his lips. "What is it that you said earlier? Not moving a finger unless if asked to... I like the idea of you _begging_ , laying face on my bed".

Shanks' eyebrows shot up, as his hand wrapped around Buggy's body. "Well a Yonkou can't really beg, you know?".

"I'll make you" that came out of the Shichibukai's mouth in such a fast and strong way that the redhead, for once, decided to stop his teasing.

"Very well then".

Among all the stupid, embarrassing and demeaning question he could have asked; Buggy decided to go with the only one he needed an answer for.  
"Do you want this?". His original idea was around the lines of something more cheesy and deep that had "me" as the object, and that he refused to say with every inch of his will. He fixed his eyes onto Shanks', as his heart raced.

The redhead's glare softened all out of the sudden, as the man answered in a rather serious tone.  
"That's such a dumb questio-" he seemed to think intensively about his words, "Yes. Yes I do".

Buggy leaned in in half an heartbeat, but stopped inches away from the other man's mouth, smirking.  
"Can I kiss you?".

The Yonkou theatrically whined. "That's how you wanna play?".

The smirk on the clown's face widened; but he did not answer.

"Yes you can".

Buggy pressed his lips onto Shanks' immediately after. His movements were broad, slow, and way too tender for the half erection pressing against the clown's belly.

Shanks pulled away, his expression ever so slightly pissed.  
"I want more".

The younger one was unexpectedly efficient: he went right for it, grabbing the other man by the scalp and pulling himself up on his knees in order to have a better control over the kiss. Shanks tried to partecipate, to gain a little more control; but each move of his was either blocked or sent back with an impressive greed.  
As the two men moved, switching balance, unable to back off and properly breath; Buggy lowered his whole body and rubbed his scrotum and ass against the Yonkou's erection.

The moan that came rumbling down from Shanks' throat was intense; but far from being enough. 

Buggy held him very close, as he whispered in his ear: "Want me to do it again?". He didn't notice how his own voice sounded rather needy.

The calm chuckle he got as an answer was quite the opposite of what he expected.  
Another broad roll of his hips, another groan coming from Shanks' mouth.

"You're not good at this game" his casual tone was the definitive answer: no, the Yonkou couldn't take anything seriously; not when he felt so comfortable, not when he was around Buggy.

The younger man remained silent, lost in confusion. A mild blush spreading across his face.

As he whispered, Shanks slowly leaned in; his voice growing deeper every second more. "Why don't you try and say:'Would you like me to force you face down on the mattress and fuck you 'till you'll scream my name?' to which I would answer with a keen and enthusiastic 'hell yeah' ".

The Yonkou really did push his luck with that statement. indeed, as he went to kiss the other man, his balance was suddenly altered, and in a split of second red haired Shanks bumped his temple in a soft thud on the bed. Buggy staring down at him, his hands firmly placed on the Yonkou's hips.

The clown couldn't help but grin, due to Shanks shooting up his eyebrows in genuine surprise.

"I can't really fuck you" as he spoke, the younger one noticed how perfectly unscratched his mate's back was. He recalled it to be about swordsmen honor, and strangely didn't feel like mocking the Yonkou for it. 

Shanks suddenly rubbed his ass against Buggy's cock.  
"I'm sure you can come up with something" he said; as a large, sweet smile spread across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been stuck on the last phrases for literally TWO MONTHS. My desire to make this hot mess longer was outweighed by my lack of time and inspiration. Also I wanna keep going with the plooooot. It is a bit too much for an only smut chapter nonetheless... eh, we'll see how it goes with the next chapters. Sorry for keeping y'all waiting! Feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion of any kind!


	3. Day two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter warnings: slice of life, Shanks being himself (with all the ups and downs); Buggy being in a good mood feels really strange, fluff, two dorks being dorks and teasing each other; Buggy goes through at least four moods; this time no angst whatsoever; bad humor, LOTS of it; a little time to shine for Alvida and Benn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did it take this long?
> 
> No seriously, how's it even possible?
> 
> I mean, during the course of this month I've had very little free time, but still...
> 
> Ok, yep. I am willing to speed things up. I can do it! (please don't take my words to seriously eheheh).
> 
> Also a little advice if any of you ever feel like writing about this hilarious ship: do read again the first chapters of One Piece (first couple for Shanks, then from nine to eighteen both for Buggy and the bara-bara no mi episode); because these two have a pretty peculiar characterization.

The moment Shanks opened his eyes facing the wall and curled up in a blanket, Buggy was already awake and perfectly dressed. He was tying his hair in his usual high ponytail, moving very fast, as though he was late for some very important matter.

The Yonkou felt as in a lucid dream; he turned slowly towards the other man and let out a deep sigh.

"Going somewhere?".

Buggy almost spin around; his eyebrows were slightly up, as if he hadn't quite grasped the question.  
Then he seemed to understand.

"I told you I'd have to work all day long".

"Did you?" Shank's voice was muffled, and although he didn't really recall the other man saying something like that, he expected some kind of little burst from him.

Which did not come.

"I didn't?" Something in Buggy's glare softened, and after a couple paces, he went to leave a quick kiss on Shanks' lips. "I'm sorry. You came all the way here just to see me and I'm leaving you alone".

Shanks stared for a little while.  
"Who are you and what happened to Buggy?" Now, the idea of Buggy being kidnapped during the night and swapped with an impostor felt like a wonderful prompt for a story (which anyone, if they wanted to, could write); but again that was not the case.

The younger man simply chuckled.  
"Excuse me?".

"You seem really happy" Shanks' eyes flickered up to Buggy's hair.  
"You're going blonde?".

Another stranded look, another chuckle from the clown.  
"Don't really have time to dye it blue. I'm looking for something permanent, like a flashy wig, or a big hat".

"I think you'd look nice" as he spoke, the Yonkou reached out for Buggy's cheek, caressing it very tenderly.

"Ok Redhead" after lingering a couple of seconds, the younger man politely backed off.  
"But I really need to go right now. Care to join me for breakfast?".

The older one thought about it, looked out a window and guessed it was still quite early in the morning.  
After a grin spread on his face, he just lied back in bed. "I'll sleep a bit more. Don't worry, I'll come find you later".

Before definitively exiting the room, Buggy gave out a last smirk. "Ok lazy ass, see you around". Shanks had enough time to glance at those red lips; but in a moment he was alone.

"I need just a little time" he muttered, as he closed his eyes and turned around on the fresh side of the pillow; trying to ignore the throbbing headache he was having. For a second Shanks had the silly thought of Buggy's scent being able to make him feel better; nevertheless it lasted for a second, for he Yonkou knew that it was simply one of his many headaches.

-

A couple hours later, in the main facility, one could have seen Buggy and Alvida sitting at the same table: close enough to hear one another, but not enough to share personal space.  
He'd been working on a certain flawed project up until Alvida had ~~forced~~ gently asked him to check their investors list; while she sorted out materials and prime necessities according to what they could afford; filing expense reports as in some inventory business.  
They didn't really need investors at the moment, but still they chose to be farsighted.

"Captain What'sitcallit payed us 500,000,000 Berry for five ships completely equipped. Thirty mercenaries each, three capable captains and two navigators..." Buggy adjusted his reading glasses (no one knew if the Clown really needed those, or simply wore them for the fashion).

As Alvida started to crunch those numbers, she asked :"Two navigators for five ships? This guy loves to risk".

"It's a strategy dumbass. Of course two is not enough, the fleet is going to be slower and next time this What'sitcallit will pay us more to have enough navigators".

The woman narrowed her eyes, looking very stoic and quite pissed.  
"Yes, but what if the ships without navigators get lost or worst, get wrecked? This guy payed 150.000.000 just for the navigators, 100.000.000 for three captains and 250,000,000 for the rest of the lot. Even considering this insane amount of money, if we loose a single, and I mean only one boat we're in red".

Buggy seemed to think intensively about that, not really willing to do any calculation.  
"This is going to be a problem in the future; for now we still own a decent amount of John's treasure, don't we?".

At that, Alvida lowered her eyes on the papers, huffing and muttering insults and complaints of all sorts.  
Then she kept talking:"We purchased highly valuable cannons in bad conditions for 1,000 Berry. The goons fixed everything they could and now they're wort at least 80,000 Berry. Anyone who would pay 200,000?".

The man flipped a couple pages.  
"This certain GuyPerson won't pay more than 400,000 for the whole lot".

Alvida started talking fast:"Then we'll tell them we can close the deal for the special amount of 320,000. Worst case scenario we'll close it for 290,000. The gain is going to be between 400% and 362%; really high indeed. Nonetheless we'll be needing those money in the immediate future..."

She stopped, biting her pencil as her eyes moved very quickly across the lines.

Buggy too, stayed quiet. He was nothing but surprised.

"Nope, either we sell something else, or rise our prices. Better not to rely on the treasure too much".

The older man scoffed, dropping his papers on the table. "What exactly do you need me for?".

Alvida didn't do so much as blink. She had her hair back in a wonderfully colorful headband, so that she could have her sight free; her outfit was sloppy for her usual self, but still quite stylish.  
"Oh yeah, almost forgot! How did your hookup go?".

Usually, Buggy would have snapped; but since Alvida already knew from a very long time, he figured he could brag about it. 

He smiled without noticing.  
"He's at my feet. I left him exhausted in so many ways! You should see him right now".

Alvida put on a smug smirk.  
"No need for that, you forgot to cover up the hickeys on your neck, idiot.

Immediately the man went touching his skin, as though it was possible to spot those marks with the only use of fingertips.  
But he did not lose his temper.  
"So what, jealous?".

The woman rested her head on her hand.  
"A bit. Seems to me you've been having a lot of fun".

Buggy thought for a second about Shanks, and how he would have loved to go meet him in that exact moment. He scratched his head with one of his carpenter's pencils, as he lowered his glare so to hide a very mild blush.  
He then coughed and suddenly got up, trying to switch the subject.  
"Where's Galdino?" even if he wanted to appear serious, the man's voice sounded unnaturally high and squirming.

Alvida burst out laughing, throwing her head back.  
It was plain she wanted to make a tease, or talk in any way; but she was simply laughing too hard for that.

The clown narrowed his brows in confusion, and was about to speak up, when a group of people burst into the room.

"BUGGY-SAMA!"

Fortunately, they all knelt before him; for Buggy didn't think that his actual appearance would be good for his new image.  
The man immediately tossed his glasses away, split in pieces during a twirl and spoke up in the most frightening tone he had.

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU WANT?".

Each and every one of them quivered. It was a group of three people that moved simultaneously for some unknown motivation.  
A head raised, still shaking.  
"I-in the main building. First the water tubes- then a riot- we tried to stop but- and then the doorframes- it flooded and-"

"SHUT IT!"

And everyone went silent. Buggy heard "flooded" and "doorframes"; if anything was damaged it would result as huge amount of surplus, and quite busy work. Thinking about it, the man heavily exhaled, as his good mood dropped and his anger rose. 

"I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR RIOTS, YOU CAN ALL DIE FOR WHAT I CARE! THERE'S A FLOOD? THAT'S ALL YOU NEEDED TO SAY. DON'T MAKE ME WASTE ANY MORE TIME!".  
The Shikibukai crossed his arms, looking very lordly and cynic. Saying that he loved all that power wasn't nearly enough.

Now one could think that Buggy's goons hated him with every inch of their will; but it was quite the opposite.  
Indeed, seconds after their captain's burst, they were all thinking something around the lines of: "Our magnanimous lord has given us a life lesson; taught us the real priorities and made us understand that life is the most important gift and thus we are to cherish it on our own".

"STOP STANDING THERE LIKE IDIOTS AND SHOW ME THE FLOOD!". Buggy's voice seemed to resonate within them all; for they were all out of the facility in half an heartbeat.

As he yelled, pacing along the other three on the way to the accident, Buggy's eyes met for a moment with Benn's, the first mate of the Red Force.

The clown didn't linger, and perhaps barely recognized the man.  
Benn on the other hand watched with great wonder Buggy: his broad movements, his facial expressions and the furious way he was scolding his subordinates.

"So loud" Was the first thought that crossed Benn's mind.

It didn't take long for the man to find that clown's cabin. Even if made of wood and ready to be taken apart at any moment; the structure appeared somewhat flashy. Benn figured it was out of limits for any of those crazy followers wandering around the island.

He knew Shanks to be in there, for he hadn't seen him all day long, and found it quite strange. He didn't expect his captain to be head of the building site; but not even seeing him napping on the grass or buzzing around people was suspect.

In short: Benn was not surprised, but still a little bit worried.

The door wasn't locked, and being on the Red Force, Benn had long forgotten the polite habit of knocking before entering a room; so he swung the door open.

Shanks was sitting at a busy workbench, leaning back on a pretty fancy chair, and turning around in his hand a thingy of unknown utility (it was a flask of gunpowder mixture, but Shanks wasn't really into explosives).  
The Yonkou was wearing a pair of sandals and his black trousers portraying a peculiar pattern of shining suns.  
Benn could see each and every mark both on Shanks' bare torso and his neck; then scoffed, feeling more than ready to let out a tease. 

But the younger one talked first.  
"You sure took your time, huh Bug-" Turning his head towards whom he believed to be the clown; Shanks shut his mouth as a reflex, for he wasn't expecting in the slightest the tall, gray figure of Benn Backman.

The moment their glare met, Benn clearly saw a jolly sparkle in his captain's eyes; but it was gone in a second, for it wasn't meant for him.

Shanks' lips curved in a small, almost sour smile.  
"Hello stranger".

The older man crossed his arms, leaning on the doorframe and tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "I just saw your boyfriend yelling at some of his blind followers"

"Boyfriend? Ha!" a wide, dorky grin spread across Shanks' face. His main idea was to say something around the lines of:"He's always been this loud" first, and then maybe point out that he was not his boyfriend; nonetheless he'd spoken without thinking.

Benn let out a soar chuckle.  
"How adorable. Are you little boys not official yet?". Usually, the first mate was not of the humorous type; indeed every time he tried to make a joke, both his inflection and body language were so tremendously off, that very few understood it, and even fewer ever laughed at it.

Shanks though didn't have any problem to get that one.  
"It's not that".

"Maybe your good ol' Benn could help you write a nice, sparkling card for him" As he spoke, the tall man got closer.

"Benn?" The Yonkou shot up his brows in confusion.

"Just write 'Wanna be togheter?' followed by a yes and a no; so that he'll be able to tick his answer and hand the card right back at you".

The two men looked each other in the eye. Benn seemed to be smiling, whilst his captain couldn't help but blink for a relatively long time.

"How's that you're so smug today?"

The older man considered sitting on the bed, but after another look at the Yonkou, he simply leaned on the wall.  
"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time".

Shanks didn't know why, but felt the impelling urge to prove him wrong.  
"How about last week? I laughed for ten minutes straig-"

"Yeah, yeah, but you weren't feeling sick".

According to Shanks' sudden blank expression, Benn was right.  
Before the younger one could come out with a useless "how did you know", the first mate spoke up:" When you're sick captain, you stay away from strong lights, heat and can't sleep. Right now you _are_ half naked in a dark room which even got a bed, but I don't see you sleeping. Plus it's not like you're enjoying yourself in here. It's clear you'd rather go check on that clown".

Again, before Shanks could phrase a "Then why do you think I'm that happy?", Benn kept going.  
"And you're smiling so much. I can't see a drop of bad mood in you, it's almost creepy. I don't know what you see in that guy but keep it up".

Shanks opened his mouth as to talk back, but decided to ask a wise question instead.  
"If I let you stay here, are you going to keep on bugging me?".

"Yes".

The Yonkou got up, sighing very deeply as he looked for the rest of his clothes.  
"What about the others?"

"Oh please. They can't wait to hear every detail about last night".

After wearing his white shirt, Shanks looked the other man in the eye, narrowing his brows.  
"Details you said?".

Benn went looking for a cigarette in his back pocket.  
"They want everything, captain".

The black cape wrapped around Shanks, who didn't feel in the slightest like heading out; but soon realized he couldn't keep going like that. Perhaps he could use some fresh air, and then go looking for Buggy as soon as he'd felt better.

-

It was two in the afternoon and The Yonkou had finally fallen asleep under the shadow of a leafy tree. The grass was incredibly fresh, and the wind on his skin too, was nothing but pleasing.

He didn't hear footsteps approaching, just as he didn't notice that someone went sitting at his side.

"Oi,"

Shanks opened his eyes, a gloved hand holding something blurry that resembled a bowl above him. It took him a good minute to understand the simple fact that Buggy had come find him and brought some food.

"Brought you lunch... breakfast. Well both".

The Yonkou went sitting, gave out a tired, quite lost look and grabbed the bowl; he then stared down at the dish as though it was made out of some nauseating mash. A spoon stuck out of it, and Shanks at that point was perhaps too sleepy to remember that he couldn't physically hold a bowl and use a spoon at the same time.

"You sure love to sleep"

He sighed. "I do, but this is not the case". The Yonkou yawned, still holding his meal.

"You're overwhelmed because of my performance of yesterday night, aren't ya?" Buggy was wearing a once white t-shirt now covered in a mixture of mud and grease. His make up was simple, but quite flashy and colorful nonetheless. He'd walked all the way to Shanks' hideout stomping his feet, and muttering every imaginable curse; but after having a look at that redhead's sleepy face, he had a complete change of image. 

Shanks, even if not in the mood for jokes, chuckled.  
"Don't get too cocky now"

And then, out of nowhere, as the wind blew, a tense silence fell. The two men looked each other in the eye, and the clown could catch a glimpse in Shanks'.

"What's wrong Redhe-"

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?" Even if he spoke with the prime and only intent to switch topic, he sounded surprisingly calm and genuine. For a moment there Shanks thought Buggy hadn't even noticed.

Oh he did; but the Yonkou wasn't a kid that should be looked after anymore, and the clown had long learned and cherished the sacred art of minding his own business.

So he groaned theatrically as he leaned on Shanks' left shoulder, with great surprise of said redhead.  
"Ohhh you can't even imagine what those shitheads got me trough".

"Nothing that the great Buggy can't handle, right?".

The Shichibukai groaned, as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He was torn between taking that comment as a praise or as a mockery.  
"Just eat up. I'm certain that someone will come whining to me in the immediate future".

He paused, then looked at a random spot on the horizon.  
"I know it's not enough, but this is all the time I managed to cut for you today". 

His tone wasn't so much apologetic as demanding; nonetheless Shanks found that gesture ever so thoughtful.  
"Look at you! Industrious and organized like a real adult. It feels strange, but I like it".

There was a brief moment of silence. The Yonkou was just about to start eating, when he felt like the dumbest person on Earth.

"Buggy" he called out, holding up his bowl. His brows were up, his mouth curved in a grin.

The younger man turned around, as his eyes shifted between Shanks' glare and his hand. He waited, looking at the other man in an annoyed, impatient kind of way.

"How am I supposed to eat this?".

Now, Buggy could have answered something around the lines of:"Couldn't bring a table, the ground will do just fine"; or "Do I really have to explain that you can lay the bowl on your lap?"; or even, considering a little change of character:"Oh, sorry. I can hold it for you".

But he couldn't manage to hide the clear and only fact that he had completely forgotten that Shanks couldn't physically hold a plate and a spoon at the same time. 

His eyes widened all out of the sudden, and as his expression locked in between embarrassment and astonishment,the Yonkou begun to laugh recklessly.

At a certain point, one could have seen him tearing up; but every time he considered holding his stomach, Shanks would simply look at his dish and throw back his head in a never-ending cycle of laughter.

As he witnessed to that scene, Buggy narrowed his eyes, furrowed his brow and opened his mouth, trying to understand what best to say.  
Was Shanks laughing at him? Hard to tell. He decided to yell nevertheless.

"WHAT? What's so funny?".

At that point Shanks was having problems breathing.

"It was just a small défaillance! What are you, five? Stop it dumbass!".

"I'ts- it's not-" the Yonkou tried to gibber something in between those bursts of laughter.  
"Not about yo- ahahah. It's just th- that I-" he caught his breath, "hear me out: I forgot".

"Forgot what?".

"That's so dumb! And, and-"  
Shanks tried to speak, but got caught up in another insanely high pitched snort.

Buggy scoffed.  
"What are you talking about? Seriously I don't know if I'm more pissed or preoccupied".

Then, after a couple of deep breaths, red haired Shanks whispered with the biggest grin on his face:"I forgot that I only have one arm".

The other man's face somehow dropped, staring in disbelief.  
A "I don't get it. How do you even do that?" came out of his mouth fast, and in a strangely curious inflection too.

"It's just- I was so tired, and when I woke up, first thing I thought was 'food, ok great' and then 'Buggy's here, even better'; and during all the small chat I was like yes, ok, In a second I'll have a spoonful of whatever this is and I-" he stopped, still grinning, still trying to hold back. 

"Redhead I am starting to worry about your stability"  
As he said so, the Shichibukai rubbed his forehead with his hand.

"I wasn't even thinking about it! Once I realized, I felt like one of those devil-fruit users that _willingly_ jump into water and remember they can't swim right after they're meters down".

Buggy spoke up:"You felt like a comical subplot?"

"Exactly".

The clown sighed.  
"That's the story of my life", he waited just in case that redhead wanted to say something else.  
Then proceeded:"I was in the East blue, met that shitty scumbag Luffy, and he said something like:'I swear I'll kick your ass' and I laughed so hard. Then we engaged this ludicrous fight-".

At that point, Shanks scooched over to the side, just to lay down his head on Buggy's lap, letting out a big sigh. "Did he kick your ass?".

"Get off, bastard".

The Yonkou grinned, happy to bother.  
"C'mon, you're enough of a man to admit that".

The Shichibukai contracted every muscle of his face, up until he'd become quite reddish and seemed to be even quivering.  
"DO YOU WANNA DIE? WHAT SIDE ARE YOU EVEN ON?".

Even if Buggy's shout managed to move a couple of strands from his forehead, Shanks didn't do so much as blink.  
"Of course I'm on Luffy's side".

The latter man split in pieces.  
"I'M GOING T-"

"Oi, Buggy"

"WHAT?" The only fact that Buggy replied instead of hitting Shanks meant that he was indeed pissed, but not really angry. 

The Yonkou held up to the clown's face his still untouched meal. "Feed me?"

"I'll choke you". The other man snapped back without even thinking.

"Fine for me".

As the Yonkou smirked, Buggy switched from a wild, to a mild annoyance, lowering his voice and drawing very long breaths.

"I'd punch you in the face if you didn't look like shit".

"Do I?" Shanks chuckled. One could guess from his face that he was well aware of that.

Indeed, the redhead's complexion was somewhat paler than usual; his eyes were watery, and traced by some outstanding circles. It looked as though Shanks could fall asleep at any moment; nonetheless Buggy found very difficult to tell whether it was something serious, or just a little lack of sleep. In the end, he decided that Shanks was used to that kind of situation and didn't need (or feel) to make a big deal out of it.

"Y'know Redhead, you do look older, and a bit sadder too. Now, you didn't age up as wonderfully as I did; still It's not a bad thing: it suits you. You went from irresponsible idiotic brat to kind of responsible idiotic old man, not bad. Again, I'm the flashiest and more successful here, but c'mon you're doing fine". 

There was a moment of fond silence and quiet staring.

"Feed me Buggy"

"Oh, fuck you".

-

"It's past midnight, you can go to sleep if you like".  
Buggy said so as he scribbled a couple of notes on the newest project of the main hall: same room he'd had to rescue earlier that day.

"Nah, I'll _bug you_ a little longer".  
The Yonkou was sitting on a chair that he kept rocking back, trying to find a precarious balance as kids sometimes do when bored in school.  
Only this kid had been drinking; in fact he was holding a bottle even now.

Buggy didn't answer at that poor joke, and perhaps didn't even hear it in the first place.  
The moment Shanks turned towards him, the other man started flipping the pages of some kind of list, or document or whatever. The Yonkou's eyes flickered when he noticed the focused, and serious cut of Buggy's: he looked like a completely different person, who had nothing to do with the loud and short tempered man of a couple of hours back. 

Shanks even noticed a couple of small wrinkles that would form at the corner of his eyes every time the Shichibukai squinted.  
It was a nice, quiet sight.

That only lasted up until Buggy looked in the other man's direction.  
At that point Shanks widened his eyes and even felt blocked for a good second; just as if he'd been caught whilst doing something wrong.

"If you like it this much, we can fuck in here next time you come around". His tone was confusingly neutral.

In the beginning, the Yonkou was a little taken aback.  
"Why not now?". 

Buggy turned completely towards the older man, smiling.  
"Because right now" he stomped his fist on his workbench and switched inflection like nothing "I need you to SHUT YOUR DAMN TRAP!". 

Shanks flinched, blinked for a relatively long time, then cracked a smile.

"Don't laugh, you'll distract me".

"I wasn't going to" he said in a broken chuckle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone is so sassy in here.
> 
> I have made a mistake: I forgot how much of a bitch Buggy is. I mean, they made him develop into a more human/comical character; but going back to his very first appearance, this guy killed people like nothing and used to go around and say things like "What's my name?" with blood shot eyes. (A wee kinky, aren't we Buggy?)
> 
> Like seriously: in the Stampede film, Buggy floats around trying to escape as he thanks his mother for giving him birth; whilst in chapter nine of the manga Buggy puts a guy inside a cannon and makes him blow up because he'd said something that sounded (especially in the original japanese) a bit like a comment to his nose, but indeed was not one.


	4. Until next time.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: A lot of confusing confessions; NSFW content; Buggy lowering his shields a bit (you could call it that, o more simply a mild panic attack); an insane amount of serotonin as well as fluff; ok now that I'm writing it does look a bit like angst too; Shanks' crew and Buggy bullying Shanks; we connect a bit with the past works (mostly Relata refero) in here; chasing game; kisses; jokes; this is heartwarming.
> 
> this may or may not ave been partially inspired by me listening to Stressed Out trhoughout the whole 2019's summer.

The third day had passed so fast, and Buggy for once had decided to take a complete break.  
Which was a very good call, for he was probably the only one left beating his ass at that point, since Shanks' folks wandering around the island were too much of a distraction for everyone... plus the Red Force was empty. 

Shanks' cabin was cozy, pretty simple and yet special somehow; although the Shichibukai didn't bother pointing that out, for his prime concern wasn't exactly the room.

There was privacy, and kisses, and outstanding teases, and condoms.  
And as time passed, moans echoed and positions switched; Buggy felt this fond and oddly satisfying sensation burning trough his chest. Enjoying Shanks' presence was something; but what he was feeling at the moment was on a whole new level. Skin onto skin, their hips moving in synchrony, locked in a tight rhythm.

The clown was on all fours, clenching the blanket underneath him and muttering every kind of course, as Shanks pounded very fast into his ass.  
He was so close, and that Redhead had such a strong grip that the latter man kept jolting, fighting an inner urge to relax every muscle of his already loose beyond imagination body.

It had been a couple minutes since all the "You feel so good", or "oh fuck", or even plainly "fuck me" had turned into gibberish and moans.  
During that time, Shanks had bent very deeply and started muttering now praises, now curses, as Buggy's hair messily bounced before his eyes.

Since when that bastard had become so good? Was he that steady, that intense, that precise even last time? If it weren't for his total thought-blackout, the clown would have wholeheartedly let out a mischievous tease; just like that, in order to give out a minimum appearance of self control. And instead, his arms were trembling to the point that he had to lay on his forearms. After a loud, wet moan came out of Buggy's mouth, the man curved his back as in an involuntary spasm. 

Perhaps Shanks enjoyed that scene very much, for it took him an effortless, lightning-fast move, and the two men were facing one another, with the latter having his knees surprisingly up to his ribcage.

Knowing the Yonkou, for a second there Buggy expected him to come up with one of his annoying flirts and slow things down; but it was all gone once he saw Shanks' lusty, almost wild glare.

A trembling grin spread across the clown's face; as a million thoughts crossed his mind at a terrific speed: how that expression was an absolute turn on; how his own glare was most certainly a complete meltdown; how his breathing was so fast; how- 

"fuck- fuck it-"  
Buggy gasped all out of the sudden due to a particularly intense thrust. He then shut his eyes and threw his head back on the pillow. At that moment, the Shickibukai _prayed_ with every inch of his will for that Redhead to read the room, to keep on thrusting him like that. Not being able to glance at the satisfied smirk printed of the other man's face, the clown decided to make it quite clear.

A "don't you dare to stop now" came out of his mouth in a wriggly, broken kind of way.  
After that, Buggy categorically refused to look Shanks back in the eye.

Then he gasped, and moaned again, and grabbed the other man by the nape, and sunk his fingers in his skin.  
Sometimes he still had to remind himself that was Shanks. To like so much such a dork, to care so much, to feel so good...

As both men climaxed in the dark, all the charge exploded in a wet moan from the clown's lips:"Shanks".

It took the Redhead a good deal of seconds and sighs in order to catch his breath, come down on Earth, and notice how Buggy was ever so slightly quivering. Quivering, and groaning his name.

"Shanks..." he whispered again, enjoying the stranded, tired and yet pleasantly surprised expression on the Yonkou's face.

As he lowered his legs down on the mattress, Buggy locked their lips in a ravish, hurried kiss; then leaned back again, taking Shanks with him.

Laying on the clown's bare chest, breathing on his neck, staring at his watery eyes; Shanks realized that again, such as after Marineford, he couldn't quite guess Buggy's thoughts from his face.

What the Shickibukai was experiencing, felt indeed as a strong pressure at the pit of his stomach, that had been converting into this deep attachment and desire towards Shanks throughout the whole night.

Buggy looked away, to his side.  
"I'm minding blurry things tonight" then back at the other man. "Care what you think". 

Shanks furrowed his brow, but stayed quiet, waiting.

The Clown caressed very tenderly those red locks. "Sometimes I wish we could turn back time, to those- no, our good ol' days".

"Buggy-"

"Wait" his hand slid down to Shank's mouth corner. "When everything was easier, funnier, more intriguing..." his heart was pounding insanely fast, "when we were together against the world, and we would fight, and laugh, and live a life yeah with all the others, but also a more secluded one with each other. I-"

silence fell for a moment. Buggy looked as though he was searching for something on the Yonkou's face.

"I missed it very much". A lopsided smile formed on his reddish, swollen lips.

Perhaps Shanks never quite realized the effect that his piercing glare had on people; nor was aware of when he pulled it off. At that moment, the man believed to appear calm, albeit surprised; nonetheless the impression was more around the lines of shocked and extremely focused.  
He wanted to speak up, to answer with something that was most probably too forward.

But just when he had opened his mouth; the clown narrowed his eyes and kept whispering.  
"And by that I don't mean I'm not myself around here, or that your cock has magically brought me back to reason". He said that first bit more to convince himself rather than Shanks. 

The older man laid on his forearm, boosting his body up until he could properly face Buggy. A slight flirt would have been fun, but not a very good call. "Of course" he whispered, just before he could leave a trail of soft kisses down the clown's jawline. 

A shiver ran through the Shichibukai's body. That gesture was of course incredibly sweet; nonetheless he couldn't help but feel awkward about it, as though his skin had become a good deal more sensitive. So he gently pushed Shanks away. 

"I want to say" Buggy's facial expression shifted somehow, "Look at you- for God's sake, look at me! I left a kid, met him again for a couple hours in his twenties and now..." his mouth curved sardonically, "It's been so long, Redhead we don't even know each other".

That one phrase set off a fast-spreading numbness from deep inside of Shanks' chest.  
Why would he say something like that? The Yonkou did know it to be bitterly true; nonetheless to be hearing that out of loud was a completely different deal.

Buggy noticed that little shock, that flicker in the other man's eyes; wrapped his hands around Shanks' neck, and dragged him down again. The clown didn't expect that redhead's heart to be hammering so fast.

They stayed in silence for a bit.

" Oi Shanks"  
Buggy called out, then kept talking fast.  
"After we met in the East Blue, I hooked up with this one gal and I'm telling you she was the spitting image of you. The way she talked, dressed, moved. Well perhaps she was a bit shorter but still".

The Yonkou didn't so much as blink; that longing still resonating though his pupils.

"I couldn't kiss _you_ , didn't kiss her". The man chuckled, grinned and kept going in a funny voice:"I remember doing the show-off, I said something like 'sorry darling, I don't kiss' ".

At that, Shanks couldn't help but snort. "What a jackass".

"Wait wait, that's not the best part. I distinctively remember her telling me:'That thing you did last night with your body split, keep it in mind with ladies, ok?' I-".

The Yonkou shot his eyebrows up.  
"No! Now I want to know. Spit it out, what did you do?".

"No idea, I'm as clueless as you are".

After a chuckle, the redhead went tracing circles on Buggy's chest with his finger. Perhaps Buggy really was able to cheer him up a little.  
"You never used your paramencia with me though. I could get jealous". 

The clown gave out a last smile. Between flirting back and keep going with his story, he chose the latter. There was always time to joke; but now he needed to clear things out.

"That day I understood how much I could use people, use them because trusting them was to much of a waste of energy for me". He stopped, fixing his eyes on Shanks'. He knew Shanks was aware of his _tendencies_ , of his manipulative behavior; but between acknowledgement and acceptance the difference's not thin. "Then I remembered our life on the Horizon, and in a second I felt the urge to have someone at my side, laying on the ground- yes I slept on the floor that night- with me.

It was clear Shanks couldn't grasp the meaning of that whole talk.

"It came to me just seconds after" the younger man swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat. The last thing he thought before talking again was a trembling:" _Here comes nothing"_.

"I didn't want a someone; I wanted you".

The Yonkou had a complete change of image: his face lightened up all out of the blue, and he stopped breathing for a distinct second.  
He opened his mouth, but couldn't find the right words, and hanged like that for a surprisingly long time.

After Buggy leaned in, and kissed him ever so sweetly, Shanks decided he could still think about it for a while longer.

-

They both remembered falling asleep tangled to one another, with Shanks laying on Buggy's chest in a sort of loose hug; nonetheless waking up in that exact pose felt funny. 

First thing once awake, the Yonkou gave out a big, radiant smile, before escaping the clown's arms by straight up jumping out of bed and heading towards some drawers.  
Buggy simply remained still; his hands up, his mouth very much mossy.

"Rise and shine!" The older man twisted around, ready to finish his sentence, but after a look at the clown (who by the way looked as one does when sleepy enough to forget where they are), decided to ask something else instead.  
Their eyes met.

"Breakfast?".

Buggy blinked twice. A croaky "yeah" came out of his mouth as he roughly dragged himself out of the bed.

To great surprise of the Shichibukai, the Red Force's cantine not only wasn't empty, but quite crowded too. He couldn't decide between wanting to charm all of those people, or simply don't give a fuck and ignore them.

Oh if any of them even thought about looking down on him, or considering him Shanks' bitch (if anything, it was the other thing around) he would have lost it.

All the Officers where there, sitting in the same area, when a tall, surprisingly round figure looked in their direction.  
"Well, If it isn't our captain!".

Shanks waved back.  
"Morning everyone".

The two men went sitting in front of one another; the Yonkou had Lucky Roo at his side, Buggy had Yasopp.

The atmosphere was rather laid back, and it didn't take long for those guys to start to snoop around.

"So" Yasopp broke the silence, his mouth half full of bread, "what's that goofy smirk about, Shanks?".

The older man wanted to break it out in a chuckle; but the clown spoke up almost by instinct.  
"I know, right? He woke up like that, jumped out bed, fucking scared the crap out of me".

Even Benn cracked a smile at that.  
"Did you now?"

The Yonkou scoffed. "Since when it's a crime?"; he felt quite relieved by seeing Buggy apparently at ease.

Although he couldn't even immagine the incoming blunt, embarrassing curiosity of his nakamas.

The dishes on the table weren't many, but diverse nonetheless: pastries, meat, dairy products, bread and vegetables, they had it all.  
Looking around, one could see people eating with spoons, chopsticks, bare hands; Lucky Roo for once, was eating a piece of meat twice Buggy's face.

It was that very man who elbowed his captain, then started talking.  
"Oi Buggy, since this one always goes with sentimental crap when I ask him about it" -Shanks narrowed his eyes, not sure what to expect- "And since you seem like the kind of guy who doesn't have problems speaking his mind" -The Yonkou suddenly had the jitters, for he knew the effect that flattering had on Buggy- "Say, how's fucking a dude?".

As Shanks went deadly white in the face; Buggy, who was pouring water into a glass, looked the officer in the eye as though he had just brought up a normal, completely understandable uncertainty.

Now, while that was not a very polite question to ask, the clown didn't seem to mind. After all no one was disrespecting him; that was most probably a simple tease to their captain, an idea the Shichibukai found quite exquisite.

"Well first thing" Buggy looked serious for a second, "I'm very flattered, really brave of you to come at me like that; but you see I'm banging Shanks now, so..." he shrugged, and took a sip of water. Roo didn't see that coming; nonetheless the whole bunch found that smugness quite amusing.

"Secondly" at that point Shanks feared for his life. "There are dudes and dudes. One thing is sleeping with a trite, unimaginative bloke who can only conceive a cock and a hole and yet call it sex; one thing is sleeping... well with me of course".

"How about our captain here?" Yasopp spoke up, pointing at Shanks with his head.

The Shichibukai lazily looked back at the older man, as a smirk formed on his face.  
"This Redhead here is way more creative than he looks".

While it had been just a couple of hours since the last time Buggy saw Shanks mildly blush; for the officers it had been a good deal longer.  
Seeing one of the (still) four emperors in that state, eating with his glare down, frowning like a child; was surely a surprise.

Now Buggy might not have been as strong, or mastered every kind of haki, or traveled around the world; but there was something about him, something magnetic; although they weren't quite able to grasp what it was.

"So you're setting off tonight, huh?" Buggy said.

The first mate answered to that.  
"I know it doesn't seem like it, but we're pretty busy people ourselves. Plus as a Shichibukai you're a pain in the ass, Buggy" -the clown would cherish that statement forever, so that he could brag about it with the world- "We keep a low profile, away from marines".

Yasopp made a proud grin.  
"If we blow up too many of 'em there's gonna be too much of a fuss. We're not fans of complications".

At that, the clown's eyes flickered.  
"Blow up as in explode?".

the sniper chuckled.  
"Yep".

Buggy turned towards Shanks, while pointing at Yasopp with his thumb.  
"I like this guy".

Maybe for the first time that morning, the Yonkou let out a genuine chuckle; but it didn't last long.

"Does any of you want to hear about that time Shanks fell face on the deck in Waterseven?".

At that, the redhead almost choked.  
"Oh I'm killing you today".

But the first mate drew his hand on his captain's shoulder.  
"Not now Shanks, grownups are talking". 

A couple minutes later the couple was heading out of the cantine. The older man realized putting together people who _loved_ to tease him and knew so much about him hadn't been that great of an idea.

"Did you have fun mocking me?" he asked, ever so slightly pissed.

Buggy smirked, looking the other man up and down.  
"Come on, if you bring your lover for breakfast you get to be teased a bit".

Shanks had long learned to appreciate those small signs in relationships, such as Buggy defining them lovers; nonetheless there was something else he had to say. The Yonkou heavily exhaled from his nostrils.  
"Come here" he spoke as though he was referring to some undisciplined kid.

"Why?"

"Come here, I said I'd kill you, and I live up to my word".

Buggy couldn't tell if the other one was joking or if he was pissed.  
"What If I say no?". The man crossed his arms.

Shanks rose an eyebrow.  
"I'm faster than you".

"That sounds like a threat".

"Because it is one". That being said, the Yonkou was not sure he would enjoy a run; but before he could phrase another invite, the clown fled faster than expected, shouting a "CATCH ME YONKOU!".

In the beginning Shanks was a little reluctant; but after a couple paces, for a second he felt like a kid again; running trough the wooden corridors of the Horizon or the Oro Jackson; making races, fleeing after a joke at someone else's expenses, or simply playing catch. An enormous, silly grin spread acorss his face, as he approached Buggy.  
The redhead threw himself forward, making the huge mistake of underestimating the clown's outstanding talent at escaping. Indeed, the latter man split in pieces during a loud, piercing laughter. He then recomposed behind Shanks's back, and had just the time to see the other man turn around in that broad grin and those flaming eyes.  
It went on that way for quite a while; with Buggy splitting each time in a different, flashier way. At a certain point the Yonkou understood that he had to go for Buggy's feet, and in order not to get caught, the clown begun doing cartwheels and all kind of incredible acrobacies. It came to the point none of them knew where they were, nor where they were going. Shanks thought he'd finally figured it out (he'd considered using his haki, but that would have been cheating); sprinted ahead of Buggy and tried to predict how he would divide. That one time, the Shichibukai simply did the obvious and turned around; leaving Shanks laughing recklessly due to his own idiocy. The last time the Yonkou tried the dive-in tecnique, Buggy split in pieces just to do a loop in the air, come back and push his lips onto the other man's.

His right hand placed on the redhead's throat, his left hand holding tight at his hip; the clown slid his tongue inside Shanks'mouth, who moaned quietly, and backed off a couple steps.

Things were getting hot and heavy; they tried to keep on the kiss for as long as they could. Eventually, the two men broke it up in a puerile laughter lips to lips.

"Shanks" Buggy called out, talking the closest he could. His thumb was caressing the other man's adam's apple, and he was still floating to be that tad higher.

"You see, your people don't care that much about me, and I don't care about them".  
The clown leaned in for a quick peck, then talked again.  
"The only thing we have in common is caring so much about you".

There was silence for a while; Shanks was torn between saying:"You're so hot, fuck me already" and professing his undiying love.

"Buggy, I know you said we barely know each other, but I remember you".

This time it was the Shichibukai the one not quite understanding.

"I want to get to know the adult Buggy, the manipulative bastard who does cartweels at midair, how cool is that?".

The clown snorted.

"And Buggy I want you to know that I" -the latter man widened both eyes, knowing what was coming - "I loved you".

There was a moment of confusion in which Buggy furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side. Past tense was an unusual choice.

Shanks twisted the corner of his mouth.  
"I never told you because at the time I didn't know how to call it; but that Buggy whom I knew so well, I loved him very much".

The older man could sense Buggy's hands stiffening.

the Shichibukai felt indeed on the verge of a collapse. It felt early, not fair, difficult to believe, to trust.  
No. He couldn't go on like that, loosening in doubt. There are always a milion reasons not to do something, so he might as well stop running just for a little while.

He drew a very long sigh.  
"Ok Redhead, fair is fair". Looking down at Shanks, Buggy couldn't help but rember the face of that redhead in the bedroom, groaning as the Shichibukai prepped him.

It was time to let go whatever pain had remained in the past.  
"I loved you too".

It was clear the Yonkou wasn't expecting any of that.

"Don't look at me like that, I told you! Today is a strange day".

Now, it was a matter of going forward.

-

"So, Benn" the Red Force was already far away at that time of the night.  
Shanks was on the deck along with his first mate. It was a wonderfully clear, starry night.

"What impression did he give you?".

Benn breathed out some smoke.  
"Told you: very loud, surely a character, plus he makes you happy...".

Shanks' dark eyes swifted smoothly to meet the other man's.  
"But?"

Something cracked into the older man's expression.  
"He's an arrogant fraud for whom the end justifies the matters. You're walking on very thin ice here captain".

A warm smile spread acorss the redhead's face.  
"I'm as much a ticking bomb as he is. We all have our demons, don't we now?".

The other man simply nodded in response.

The wind blew, setting a gloomy atmosphere in the dark, fresh air.  
"He knows how I feel about this kind of bonds, I told him very long ago; although I never knew if he really understood me" he didn't wait for Benn to ask questions.  
"I told him that once we'd grown up, we would be enemies, and I had accepted it because that also meant being a pirate: live and let live, life on the lam, wandering free around the world, letting people go".

Looking back at the gray figure, the Yonkou understood how Buggy had felt the night before; trying to explain something so complicated to a someone who looked as stranded as a castaway in the New World.

"But now, I know better".

Shanks would have cut it there, if it wasn't for another question from his first mate.  
"Then what are you so worried about?".

Shanks breathed in very deeply, closed his lids, collected his thoughts and opened them back.  
"If all of this doesn't work out" he was surprised by the firmness in his own voice, "I'll take the hit like every other time, lose a little bit of myself like very other time, and keep going with my life like every other time indeed. Never cared about big treasures or fame; I'm not a main character, don't have that desperate crave that eats you up inside; but I'm getting hollow, Benn. We all are".

The first mate harshly bit the filter of his cigarette.  
"You're infinitively better than what you just said".

A soar chuckle came from the captain.  
"I know, I know. It's just that sometimes a good look to our skeletons in the closet can-"

"Shanks" Benn interrupted him, got closer and drew his hand on the redhead's shoulder.

The Yonkou tried to laugh it off.  
"I swear wasn't born this tired".

Benn looked down for a second as he scoffed.  
"Just remember how much I care for you".

Shanks smiled very fondly at him.  
"Of course, I know that" he said, not so sure sharing the topic had been a good call at all.

There was a glassy light in Benn's eyes.  
"Do you really?".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ubuntu: I am who I am thanks to what we all, together are.
> 
>   
> This chapter was supported by Stromae singing in PAIN 'cause I didn't understand a word, but the feels where all there.  
> Also I wrote all the second part (from the breakfast bit) in one day, so it was all rather influenced depending on the mood of the hour.
> 
> One Piece has made it to 1000 chapters, I- HOW?
> 
> ANYWAYS UBUNTU IS FINALLY DONE!
> 
> thank you for your enormous patience!!  
> 


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